In the late 1980s through to the mid-1990s, Abbott ingrained himself in the history books as the infamous two-time prison escapee who, while on the run from police, taunted them with postcards from hideout locations.

The cocky then 30-something, who had been serving time for million-dollar bank heists and taunted his would-be captors after his escapes, cut a vastly different figure to the moustachioed 53-year-old man who represented himself in Friday's hearing via videolink from prison.

Abbott was sentenced to 25 years in jail in 1998 for the combination of the bank robberies and became eligible for parole in 2011.

He has since unsuccessfully applied four times.

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Friday's court appearance came after he applied for a judicial review of the Queensland Parole Board's last refusal of his application in July, 2015.

Abbott was housed in a high security cell for the entirety of his 17 years behind bars and argued to Justice Dalton on Friday he could not see any reason he should not be allowed a lesser degree of security.

"It's a policy. The thing is, I have been breach free since February 2005, squeaky clean," he said.

"The only reason I can't progress is because of the policy and the board is aware of that."

Mr Abbott expressed frustration that he had addressed all the parole board's concerns, however they still continued to refuse his applications.

"This is my fourth application for parole and they just keep moving the goal posts," he said of the board.

"They want me to do this and do that and I jump through hoops to do it and they still refuse it."

Mr Abbott had previously been granted parole by the Queensland Parole Board on the proviso he would be extradited to Western Australia, where he will face further charges.

However, the offer was rescinded when the Western Australian authorities refused to transfer him to their state.

Abbott was a one-time West Australian ward of the state.

His first jail break in 1989, one which earned him lifelong notoriety, was from Fremantle Prison.

While the Parole Board argued there was sufficient need to keep Abbott in his current high security accommodation, Justice Dalton disagreed.

"I'm worried they are incorrect findings of fact, was there any evidence before the board that justifies those facts," she asked.

"Where is the material that corrective services finds it necessary to keep him in secure accommodation as opposed to applying a policy to keep him in high security accommodation?

"We are dealing with someone who has not committed a major breach since 2005.

"There is no evidence corrective services have kept him there to ensure anything, in fact the corrective services officers in his application recommends he gets parole, which contradict the notion they think he should be in high security.

"Your board has made these findings either on some evidence or their findings are erroneous."